Swap Meet

I must’ve drifted off to sleep because the next thing I knew, someone was grabbing my boob.

My eyes flew open, and I looked over to see it was my dad, his other hand rubbing his crotch.

“Jeezus!” I said, shooting to an upright position and using my arms to cover my exposed chest.

“What?” said my dad. “I see titties, I want to grab ’em.”

“Ugh, you’re such a sicko,” I said, looking around for my bikini top. “I was just trying to work on my tan.”

“Whatever,” said my dad, shrugging. “If you're gonna be like that, go make yourself useful and fix me something to eat.”

I waited until he was out of sight and then got dressed. I couldn’t believe I was stuck on this boat all summer with such a degenerate. Back during the winter, with the radiator in my mom’s shitty apartment barely putting out enough heat to keep us from freezing to death, spending a few weeks in the Caribbean had seemed like paradise.

Alas, it seemed as though there was to be no paradise for me. Putting on a T-shirt and pair of shorts over my bikini to avoid any more unpleasant incidents, I reluctantly headed down to the galley and started making dinner.

Later, despite wolfing everything down in between gulps from his beer, my dad started complaining about the food, as usual.

“Can’t you make anything better than this slop?” he said, not bothering to cover his mouth as he let out a long burp. “Put in some Tabasco sauce or something. This shit has no flavor.”

“Yeah, well, if you don’t like it, cook your own damned meals,” I said. “Anyway, I did the best I could. There’s almost nothing left in the pantry.”

“Eh, it’s all right,” said my dad, guzzling down the last of his beer and then tossing it with a clink into the big plastic box where all the empties were stored. “We’ll be going into town tomorrow.”

“Oh yeah?” I said, trying to sound nonchalant even as my heart leapt at the chance to get off the damn boat and see something other than endless waves in every direction..

“Yep,” said my dad, using his finger to pick out a piece of food from his teeth. “Guy there owes me some money. The dirtbag has been avoiding me for a while, but I got a tip on where he’s been holed up.”

“Oh,” I said, my hopes dashed. “I thought we might be going somewhere nice, not to see one of your low-life buddies.”

“Oh, Port George is nice, honey. Real nice,” said my dad, giving me a leering grin. “You can’t throw a rock without hitting some rich fucker and his yacht.”

“Nice,” I said, pleasantly surprised.

“Speaking of which,” said my dad, gesturing at my chest. “You and me could make a lot of money in a town like that.”

“Ugh, don’t be such a pig. No fucking way,” I said.

“Well, you need to do something to earn your keep around here,” grumbled my dad. “Come on. You’re not a little girl anymore. No sense in wasting all those natural-born assets.”

“I do earn my keep,” I said, trying not to let him rile me up. “Who the hell do you think does all the cooking and cleaning around here?”

“Eh,” said my dad with a shrug. “Anyway, keep your titties covered up tomorrow. Don’t want to be going ’round making a bad impression on them fancy folks, do we?”

“Whatever,” I said, picking up the plates and carrying them over to the sink.

Early the next morning, we sailed into the nicest harbor I’d seen so far. Even from a distance, I could tell that it was a destination for wealthy people, the buildings all white and clean.

The town was situated at the base of a mountain, and there were nice houses that got progressively bigger and more luxurious as the elevation increased to let the rich literally look down on the poor.

The marina was chock full of yachts and sailboats of every size and description, all of them gaily bobbing up and down in the turquoise water. As my dad hopped onto the pier to tie us up, I glanced over at the next boat over and saw a stunningly handsome man standing on deck.

He appeared to be about my dad’s age, but this guy had his shirt off, giving me a clear view of his toned abdomen and thick head of hair. He had one leg resting on a bench as he gazed out to sea, and I instantly wished I could be over on that boat instead of being trapped on the floating garbage can that was my dad’s boat.

Just then, a young woman emerged from below decks, her long hair flowing in the breeze as she walked over to the man. She had on a bikini and was utterly gorgeous, and I could just imagine the wonderful summer they were having, traveling between glamorous ports on a romantic adventure of a lifetime.

“Hurry the hell up,” shouted my dad, snapping me out of my reverie.

I grabbed the big wicker bag we used for shopping and reluctantly stepped off the boat to join my dad at the pier. He dug a wad of crumpled notes out of his pocket and handed them to me.

“Buy some fresh shit, yeah? I’m sick of all that canned junk,” said my dad. “And for fuck’s sake, don’t forget the booze. You drink like a goddamned sailor.”

“It’s not like there’s anything else to do all day,” I retorted.

“Whatever. I’m gonna go meet the guy and get my money,” said my dad. “Keep your nose clean and don’t stir up no trouble.”

“I wouldn’t think of it,” I said, flipping him the bird the moment his back was turned.

As my dad headed off to go meet whatever scumbag idiot was stupid enough to owe him money, I followed the growing throngs of people into town until I came across the market. After weeks on the boat with little change in scenery, the bright colors of all the fruits and vegetables on sale were dazzling.

In this part of town at least, most of the people were dressed in clothes with bright patterns that beautifully showed off their darker skin tones, everyone speaking English in that lilting Caribbean patois that I’d quickly come to adore.

My bag was filled to bursting by the time I got done shopping, and my stomach began to growl as I began fantasizing about the enormous bowl of fruit I was going to fix myself for lunch.

I arrived at the marina and just as I was heading down the dock where we were moored, I saw the beautiful young woman that I’d spotted earlier on the neighboring boat, sitting on the edge with her feet dangling off, gazing out to sea.

“Nice view, eh?” I said, deciding to be neighborly. “I can see why people visit here.”

“I see you’ve done some shopping,” said the young woman, gesturing at my bulging bag.

“Yeah, the food market in town is amazing,” I gushed, so happy to talk to someone close tomy age for once. “You really ought to check it out.”

“Oh,” said the young woman, her smile faltering for a moment. “I don’t know. Rick said I’m supposed to stay here and keep an eye on the boat. But maybe later, yeah.”